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Winter warmer butternut squash soup

07 December

One of my favourite things to cook come the colder months of autumn and winter, is soup. When it's a cold, grey and rainy day all you want is comfort food - and nothing is more comforting than a big bowl of homemade soup. My favourite? Butternut squash soup.

Ingredients

½ a butternut squash

2 carrots

1 red onion

1 white onion

1 vegetable stock cube

350ml water

Salt and pepper

Preparation & cooking

Pre-heat the oven to 160'. Chop the butternut squash, carrots, red and white onion into big chunks and place in a baking tray with 2cm water, seasoning with salt and pepper. Add to the oven, turning the heat up slightly to 190', roasting your vegetables for 30-45 minutes (or until soft and tender). Turn occasionally, basting the vegetables with the water if necessary.

Prepare 350ml of vegetable stock.

Once the vegetables are soft, transfer to your Tower Soup Maker, add the vegetable stock and turn on for 60 minutes.

Blend and serve as desired.

Soup is one of the easiest things to make, something that always leaves the bellies in our household satisfied on a cold winters night. Butternut squash has always been a favourite of mine to make because butternut squash itself has a lovely flavour, but can easily be spruced up with the right seasoning and spices. For this soup I just seasoned with salt and pepper - but on days when I want something with a bit more oomph, I love adding chilli flakes for a spicy kick! You can season as you please when eating, and adding a touch of creme fraiche can give it a lovely creamy touch, especially nice if you've added some chilli flakes in!

I used our 1.5L Tower Soup Maker*, which makes life so much easier. I love my kitchen gadgets and I'd really recommend this for anyone who likes to make soup regularly (and it can even be used for making more than just soup, too!). Instead of having to use our big cast iron pot, stand there stirring, checking it's not boiling over and then waiting for it to cool before blending, I can just stick everything in the soup maker and leave it until the timer is up. Like a slow cooker, it does all the hard work for you and all you have to do when it's finished, is blend to your desired consistency. Easy peasy! It holds 1.5 litres which for us makes 4 big bowls of soup - or even more if stretched out and had as 'cuppa soup'. I saw a fab recipe on The Black Pearl Blog using the soup maker for pesto, so I'm going to try that this week! Let me know if you'd like to see a recipe.

Would you like to see more recipes for my favourite winter foods? What's your favourite kitchen gadget? This year I've put the Tower 800ml Personal Blender on my Christmas wishlist - are you hoping to find any kitchen gadgets under your tree this Christmas?